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Things people blamed on bicycles

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Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#491

Post by noobker »

kiliantics wrote: post #457
dageshi wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be honest, the real reason is that cyclists are frustrating to drivers merely by being cyclists. They're slow so they force the driver to either try to overtake or slow down everyone behind them and most people when driving will feel a pressure not to slow down the journeys of others behind them. So long as cyclists and drivers share the same roads it will always exist, some drivers will just be better about it…

The funny thing though is that, in most urban settings, this is completely untrue. Cyclists actually speed things up by creating less traffic. Every cyclist on the road means less cars on the road. And the speed of traffic is not determined by the speed of the cars, which most drivers seem to believe for some reason. In a city, the speed of traffic is entirely determined by the stop signals. There is a fixed time it…

> The funny thing though is that, in most urban settings, this is completely untrue. Cyclists actually speed things up by creating less traffic.

Citation please.

> Every cyclist on the road means less cars on the road.

While that part is certainly more true than not, the implications of fewer cars but several bottlenecks added to the traffic system is far from certain and likely relies on so many other factors than just the number of bikes on the road.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#492

Post by stopyellingatme »

_chu1 wrote: post #481
montebicyclelo wrote: post #114

Cycling is cheap, often faster than driving (in my city), healthy, less noisy, creates vastly less pollution, less dangerous to pedastrians... And I'd guess that about 95% of drivers that I come across are respectful of the danger they present - overtaking with enough space, and not at too high a speed (my city doesn't have great bike lanes). Unfortunately, a typical journey involves passing more than 20 cars, which…

I live in the American suburban/rural spillover, riding a bike is a fever dream, I wish I could but then again it's a tradeoff of not living in any big city of my state (I live in Alabama so I obviously don't have good choices)

I live in Birmingham, AL and biking is an impossibility here. Mountainbrook has nice sidewalks though. Just have to pay 1m+ for a house over there.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#493

Post by gray_-_wolf »

gibdu wrote: post #404
gray_-_wolf wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> charging something something But charging is (well, would be, I don't have EV) annoying. I usually fill the gas tank once a month or two and it takes 15 minutes including the trip to gas station. The ~500km distance I get from full tank is enough to cover my car use for a long time. So yeah, having to charge more often, having to find a place to charge at, all of that sounds quite inconvenient and I do not want it.…

Not the person you replied to but I also drive an EV since 2021. I have a Tesla Model 3 (LR) and after leaving it for three weeks it only lost around 3% battery. Also, I have a similar distance I drive monthly and I only charge it once.

Good to know, thank you.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#494

Post by philwelch »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #403
Tade0 wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A Transport for London study investigated the “hypothesis that the majority of cyclists ride through red lights” and discovered that 84% of cyclists stopped on reds. Imagine 16% drivers not stopping on red.

1 in 3 car drivers admit to running a red light in the past month (33.3%) in 2017 over 900 americans died in accidents involving running a red light https://newsroom.aaa.com/2019/08/red-light-running-deaths-hi...

It’s surprising how low that is. As a point of comparison, in 2008, 809 Americans died tangled in their bedsheets (which correlates to total revenue generated by skiing facilities: https://tylervigen.com/view_correlation?id=1864)

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#495

Post by dahart »

pacomerh wrote: post #161
ChrisRR wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK as a cyclist I still get so much hate on the road. I'm just trying to get to work like everyone else, but people still drive their cars up right behind me, squeeze past when there's not enough space, beep their horns and shout out the window. And then the justification is always "well I saw a cyclist run a red light once, therefore all cyclists are shit"

Not a justification but here in CA I see cyclists cross red lights much too often. So it's not once it's way too many times. They probably think they're special somehow

Don’t assume they’re not special, by law. In some states, bicycles are allowed to proceed through red lights after stopping, while cars are not. (Perhaps similar to how motorcycles in CA are allowed to split lanes while cars are not.)

I don’t really see how else to take your comment but as justification, though FWIW, studies show cars break more traffic laws way more times than bikes.

https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/cycli...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2019/05/10/cyclists...

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#496

Post by The-Bus »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #472
aaaaaaaaaaab wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy. Vote for politicians who promise punishing bike theft with multi-year prison sentences. The reasoning is simple: bike thieves disproportionately contribute to climate change by discouraging large-scale bike use. This must be punished.

> Vote for politicians who promise punishing bike theft with multi-year prison sentences Please don't - this is typical 'tough on crime' trick: promise long sentences, so easy - longer sentence-less crime, right? Wrong. Sentenses are useless if no-one ever gets caught. Look at countries with the toughest sentenses in the world, and you will find they have loads of crime You actually have to use your brain, and think…

(I think the poster was being facetious)

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#497

Post by solardev »

moffkalast wrote: post #246
DoubleFree wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem of dangerous interactions between drivers and cyclists is much smaller here in the Netherlands, mainly due to two reasons. The first reason is the infrastructure, both visible and invisible. Separated bicycle lanes are commonplace and in the few places where they intersect with car traffic, care is taken to make crossing safe and comfortable. This visible infrastructure is complemented by the concept of "…

> Going out for drinks? Bike. As long as you don't actually drink anything hah. Everyone's a designated driver with bikes.

You can actually get "biking under the influence" tickets in some places.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#498

Post by alistairSH »

baxtr wrote: post #464
diarmuidc wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it's not irrelevant. If helmet wearing is linked to higher per capita head injuries, mandatory helmet wearing should be discouraged.

Discouraged?

Yes, note he stated "if head injuries are more common with helmets".

There have been some studies that correlate higher levels of head injuries with mandatory helmet laws. The thesis was that wearing a helmet induces more reckless cycling (higher speeds, etc) due to feeling safer. I don't remember seeing any good follow-ups studies either way and don't necessarily agree with the study.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#499

Post by bluecalm »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #472
aaaaaaaaaaab wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy. Vote for politicians who promise punishing bike theft with multi-year prison sentences. The reasoning is simple: bike thieves disproportionately contribute to climate change by discouraging large-scale bike use. This must be punished.

> Vote for politicians who promise punishing bike theft with multi-year prison sentences Please don't - this is typical 'tough on crime' trick: promise long sentences, so easy - longer sentence-less crime, right? Wrong. Sentenses are useless if no-one ever gets caught. Look at countries with the toughest sentenses in the world, and you will find they have loads of crime You actually have to use your brain, and think…

Idk, it seems theft is low in countries where they cut hands for it.

Bike theft is a very harmful crime. It stops the move to healthier lifestyle, it leaves people, often poor ones who don't have cars without means of transportation and it cause many to not commute by bike.

I want aggressive policing, including trap bikes set up by the police to fish out potential thieves and lock them for years once caught, alternatively make them wear GPS locator all the time. I want them to feel fear every time they think about stealing. Maybe empty "tough on crime" promise isn't enough but it's surely better than typical approach of "let's all think about those poor thieves" or victim blaming (just lock your bike with 2 U-locks and keep your eyes on it all the time if you don't want it stolen).

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#500

Post by peoplefromibiza »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #283
peoplefromibiza wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worst drivers I've seen are not in Rome. It used to be like that around 2000s, things have vastly improved here though. Have you ever tried Barcelona or New York or Paris or Krakow or Milan or, god forbid it, Naples? Prejudices are fun, but usually they are grossly incorrect. Also as I've said, I drive very little (less than 2.000km/year) and cyclists in Rome are still from Rome. they are not Martians so their mental…

I haven't driven in Rome, but I've tried the North of Italy, in Aoste. I'm from Paris and drive / ride my motorbike here quite often [0]. The only time in my life when I felt people were out to get me was in Italy. They drove like absolute maniacs. And I was on a big motorbike, not a bicycle going at 10 kmph. The road was wide, too (outside a city), with very light traffic, but for some reason they really couldn't be…

> The only time in my life when I felt people were out to get me was in Italy.

Of course, you're French!

In Aosta!

You usually forget how shitty your country has been.

https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tentative_de_rattachement_de...

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